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Black Tip Reefers
"Black Tip Reefers" is the nickname given to a small group of pilots part of the United Nations Naval Aviation Wing (UNNAW) The Start of the War The original name for the squadron was VF-209 ('V'=fixed wing, 'F'=fighter). During early naval engagements, the squadron became known as the 'Two-Oh-Niners'. The squadron became a fearful sight to enemy naval flights as they racked up more kills than any other naval fighter wing. Birth of the Reefers In one engagement during 'Operation: Scalyface' (the Battle for Reptilig), the squadron suffered their first defeat of the war. Two weeks prior to the 'Battle of Venom Volcano', they tangled with the best enemy naval squadron and lost the majority of its pilots. The only pilots left were a group of five Australians. In order to turn the tides, the pilots dived until they were fourteen feet above the ocean surface and flew in amongst all the enemy ships. The enemy craft found it hard to manoeuver between their own ships and so crashed into them. Those who survived were shot down by the five pilots. When they landed back on the UNS Colosuss, they were applauded and personally led the search and rescue missions to retrieve the downed pilots (all but one were saved). Going along with UNNAW tradition, the five men named their squadron's Command Group (CG) the 'Black Tip Reefers' after the species of shark that swims around their home island and after their 'low-down flying' mimicking the shark's ability to swim with its belly nearly on the seabed. Last Days of the War and Death of a Reefer The Reefers were in the air when the Galactic Army attacked the underground base in Madagascar. They, along with every fighter in VF-209, provided air support for the Marines that landed there by destroying enemy fighters and firing laser-guided Air-to-Ground Missiles (AGM). During the battle, Captain Robert Jones (Reefer 3) was wounded by a shot from an enemy fighter that hit him more than 1cm to the right of his heart. He was quickly losing blood. His aircraft was out of missiles and only a small handful of rounds left for his machine gun. He told his RIO (Radio Intercept Officer) to eject, which the RIO did before flying straight into a column of enemy tanks committing the ultimate sacrifice for his comrade's victory. When the war ended, the surviving members of the Reefers held a separate ceremony attended by all of VF-209 in memory of Jones' sacrifice. It was here that Jones' wife was awarded the Naval Aviator Cross for his actions. Aircraft The Reefers primarily fly F-67C Sea Phantom III, the naval/carrier-borne variant of the F-67 Phantom III. The Sea Phantom III has a STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) capability vital for the navy's aricraft carriers and incredible manoeuvrability which is what allowed the five Australian pilots to out-fly the enemy pilots at such low altitudes. Their fighters are armed with the same M296V machine gun and sixteen HSAAMs (Heat-Seeking Air-to-Air Missiles) used on other models of the F-67. However for naval requirments, the F-67C is armed with eight 200mm (20cm diameter) torpedoes and twenty anti-ship bombs perfectly designed to penetrate even the toughest ship armour. In the case of their search and rescue mission after their dogfight before becoming the Reefers, they each flew 'Bald Eagle' tilt-rotor helicopters armed only with side mounted M296 machine guns manned by aircraft personel. On a small number of occasions, the Reefers have used 'Vee' Fast Interception Fighter (FIF) with HSAAMs and M296Vs. Colour Scheme The Black Tip Reefers are easily recognised by the thick black line that runs down the spine of the aircraft from the fin (the vertical part of the tail) to in front of the cockpit. The nose of the aircraft is also black with a shark's eyes and mouth painted on. As well as being painted fully black, the fin alo has a picture of the dorsal fin (the fin found on the back of a shark) of a Blacktip Reef Shark with "Black Tip Reefers" written around it. The camo paint is also standard navy issue; white with light shades of grey camouflage. Members All members of the Reefers are the rank of Captain *Reefer Lead/1-Mark Luscombe *Reefer 2-Steven 'Stewie' Hughes *Reefer 3-Robert Jones *Reefer 4-Eric Howard *Reefer 5-Malcolm Irwin